Buford in Class 5A, Jefferson in Class 3A, and Banks County in Class 2A all advanced to the Elite 8 round of the girls softball tournament with sweeps in the second round Wednesday.
The Elite 8 round, which will be a round-robin, double-elimination format, is scheduled to get under way Oct. 25 at the Olympic Softball Complex in Columbus.
Buford rolled past Region 7-5A champion Woodland-Cartersville with 13-0 and 6-3 wins to advance to their 14th consecutive Elite 8. Jefferson in Class 3A swept Ringgold with 3-2 and 1--0 victories at home to advance. Banks County pulled off perhaps the biggest win in the tournament taking down defending Class 2A champion Rockmart in exciting fashion getting 6-4 and 7-6 wins in a sweep on the road. The Lady Wolves are one of three teams from Region 8-5A to advance to the Elite 8 in Class 5A.
However, Commerce, the No. 2 overall seed in Class A Public, was knocked off in the second round by No. 15-seed Lanier County 5-1 and 10-8 in Commerce.
The Flowery Branch girls softball team's bid for its first-ever trip to the Elite 8 in Columbus also fell short once again on Wednesday.
The Lady Falcons were knocked out of the Class 4A state playoffs by No. 2-ranked Madison County 2-0 and 7-2 in a two-game sweep in their best-of-three series.
The first game was a tight pitcher's duel. Lady Falcon’s senior pitcher Alyssa Kimbrell toosed a complete-game striking out four and surrendering two runs on nine hits. Meanwhile the Flowery Branch offense culd muster but two hits, doubles by freshman Savannah Rutledge and senior Alexis Nixon, off Madison County's Emma Strickland, who also went the distance, in leading them to a 2-0 victory.
In Game 2, Kimbrell again went the distance for the Lady Falcons but the Lady Red Raiders plated three runs in the second inning and that would be enough in the 7-2 win to capture the series.
Madison County pitcher Kinley Phillips also went the distance. The Lady Red Raiders added two more runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings.
The Falcons scored its runs in the bottom of the seventh on a lead-off double by Rutledge followed by singles from seniors Valerie Eder and Gentry Hammock. But it wasn't enough to force a deciding Game 3.
